Sustainable Agriculture News May 19-23, 2014

Weekly news roundup from the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition - Week of May 19-23, 2014

CONGRESSIONAL NEWS

Senate Appropriators Pass 2015 Agriculture Funding Bill

On Thursday, May 22, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its agriculture funding bill for fiscal year (FY) 2015. This bill funds the activities of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the next fiscal year, beginning on October 1, 2014. Read more…

House Subcommittee Passes 2015 Agriculture Funding Bill

On Tuesday, May 20, the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee passed its funding bill for fiscal year (FY) 2015. The Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee also passed its version of the bill later the same day. The respective bills are expected go to the full Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday and the full House Appropriations Committee next week; from there, both bills could head to the full House and Senate floors later this summer. Read more…

USDA NEWS

Improving Risk Management Options for Diversified Farms

On May 21, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced the launch of a pilot revenue insurance product for diversified farming operations — Whole-Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP). Secretary Vilsack’s announcement contained some details on the policy, but the full policy is not expected to be publicly available until later this summer. Read more…

New Funds Available to Support Rural Development

On Tuesday, May 20th, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced in the Federal Register a Notice of Funding Available (NOFA) totaling approximately $25.5 million for the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP) for fiscal year 2014. Of this amount, USDA expects to make approximately $1.5 million available for microlender technical assistance grants and $24 million available for loans. Read more…

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